When connecting to a host computer remotely from a client computer, the display configurations of the two machines can be significantly different. Through this remote session, the user is attempting to replicate the experience of using the host computer. However, the difference in the display configurations between the host computer and the client computer can alter the experience and adversely effect user satisfaction especially when the client system has multiple physical display screens. The difference can be caused by differences between the hardware (e.g., number of displays can be different, display size or resolution can be different) or limitations of the software (e.g., support for specific resolutions) used to establish the remote session.
Typically, when using multiple displays while connected to a host computer, a user can configure the multiple displays individually. However, when using a client computer to connect to a host computer, the user looses the ability to individually configure the displays because the host computer assumes a single display on the client side.
For example, assume a user at home uses software to connect to their work computer. Both computers have two displays, but the remote desktop protocol used to establish the remote connection only supports a single display. Instead of experiencing a session with two separate displays, the user is presented a single display with a stretched aspect ratio that spans both screens. This is typically not the expected scenario desired by the user.